HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Waynesboro, G-A to comply with PIAA heat protocol

High school football teams across Pennsylvania get to kick off the practice season early in 2013.

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By Lee Goodwin and Ben Destefan

Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA

By Lee Goodwin and Ben Destefan

Posted Aug. 6, 2013 at 10:26 AM

By Lee Goodwin and Ben Destefan
Posted Aug. 6, 2013 at 10:26 AM

PIAA Heat-Acclimatization Guidelines(Both Waynesboro and Greencastle-Antrim have elected to complete the three-day program this week, prior to the official start date of Monday, A...

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PIAA Heat-Acclimatization Guidelines

(Both Waynesboro and Greencastle-Antrim have elected to complete the three-day program this week, prior to the official start date of Monday, Aug. 12)

—Football teams must practice for at least three hours for three consecutive days.

—Waynesboro and G-A will complete the requirement Wednesday-Friday.

—First two days, players will wear helmets and shoulder pads. On third day, full gear is permitted.

—For teams choosing to complete the program this week, contact will be allowed on Monday, Aug. 12 (official start date of fall practices).

—Teams choosing to complete program next week may not have contact until Wednesday, Aug. 14.

—No single practice session can be longer than three hours.

—Five hours of total practice is permitted each day, with a required two-hour recovery period in between sessions.

High school football teams across Pennsylvania get to kick off the practice season early in 2013.

That’s because the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association is implementing a mandatory Preseason Heat-Acclimatization period for teams. Teams have the option of using the three-day period this week or Monday, Aug. 12, the beginning of the fall practice season.

Waynesboro and Greencastle-Antrim are both opting for an early start to the practice season. The Indians and Blue Devils begin the three-day heat acclimatization period Wednesday. The only restriction is there can be no full contact until Monday’s practices. If teams choose to comply with the new protocol next week, there can be no full contact until the third day of practices.

“Three days is a great start but might fall a couple days short in my opinion from a physiological standpoint,” said Waynesboro Area Senior High School athletic director Eric McIlquham. “The days of salt pills and no water during practice are long gone. Actually, the more you acclimatize, the more water you are going to have to drink.”

At the very least, the protocol raises awareness of the dangers of heat-induced tragedies. In the past, players have collapsed — and some have even died — from effects of the heat. It’s a serious issue across the country, not just Pennsylvania.

“Heat illness is a primary concern in these conditions,” stated the PIAA guidlines on heat acclimatization. “Although deaths from heat illness are rare, constant surveillance and education are necessary to prevent heat-related problems.”

The primary means of preventing heat related illness is hydration, according to McIlquham.

“Keeping our athletes properly hydrated and stressing the importance of hydration and taking time to allow them to hydrate is vital,” McIlquham said. “Education is the key element here and getting the message out to teenagers is difficult but needs to be stressed.

“Water, water, water is the best drink for hydration.”

If the heat gets to be too much to take, players and coaches can retreat to an air-conditioned school, something they didn’t have until five years ago.

“The PIAA is doing everything it can to prevent a tragedy,” said WASHS athletic trainer Marla Smith. “If a kid gets a little dizzy, we sit him down and get him hydrated. We have not had any major problems, knock on wood.”

McIlquham said he will be keeping an eye on Waynesboro’s practices and added that it is up to each school to regulate its own compliance with the PIAA guidelines.

Waynesboro head coach Scott Shacreaw said, “In the grand scheme of things, the heat acclimatization period is something that makes a lot of sense. As times change, the rules that govern our game change.

Page 2 of 3 - “We look to spend the majority of our time working on conditioning and agility. We will not be in full pads until Friday, but even that does not give us permission to practice with full contact. Our contact will be limited to sleds and bags. The stipulations in place govern the amount of time allowed outside for each practice and how much time you must take off in between practices.”

Shacreaw added that the practices will serve to give the team a head start.

“These three additional days give us a chance to get some things out of the way that we would normally be doing on the first couple days of two-a-days and to also stress conditioning,” he said. “The other nice part of the heat acclimatization period is that we will be allowed to go full contact from the first true practice of our two-a-days schedule.”

Greencastle-Antrim

Fortunately, this process is nothing new in Greencastle-Antrim, with voluntary conditioning sessions over the summer already serving a similar purpose.

“We’ve been holding conditioning every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so we’re looking at it as more about allowing the players to get used to the equipment,” G-A head coach Chuck Tinninis said. “We’ve always went light the first day or so of practice anyhow, so now we’re just doing it a few days earlier.”

As per the PIAA’s requirements, the players will wear helmets and shoulder pads for the first two days of the acclimatization period, with full gear permitted on the third day.

Also, as per the mandatory three hours a day, G-A will begin its sessions at 9 a.m. each morning and go straight through until noon.

“We want to take advantage of this time to teach and continue with conditioning,” Tinninis explained. “The PIAA has put guidelines in place, and we’re in support of anything intended to benefit the safety of the kids.”

The sessions will feature specific drills while also serving as a head start heading into Monday’s official opening of practice.

“We intend to go over everything slowly and work with everyone individually,” Tinninis explained. “If all goes right, we will be able to hit the field running come Monday.”

G-A athletic director Vicki Ritchey believes that the PIAA is being proactive in regards to instituting the new football-only program, doing its best to avoid future complications.

“I believe the PIAA implemented this to be ahead of the issue,” Ritchey said. “The feeling is that it will be instituted as a law in Pa., as many other states have already done so.”

Page 3 of 3 - Making sure that each individual player completes the three-day process may prove to be the most tedious issue, especially with some kids still taking vacations.

“I think the biggest management piece will be tracking each of the kids,” Ritchey explained. “Our first two days of practice have always been light in nature, so that won’t really change. But, they have to complete three consecutive days prior to moving into full practice. With this being the first year, some families weren’t prepared for the three days prior to the official start of the season, so those kids will start their acclimatization on Monday.”

Much like Tinninis, Ritchey feels that anything intended to promote health and safety is certainly a good thing.

“Fortunately for us, we have been addressing these concerns all along,” Ritchey said.